MUSICIANS
marching,” said Angela Holder, a professor at Houston Community College. “It was employed in battle sometimes to intimidate the enemy or encourage combatants.”
The museum is named after the group of former slaves, freemen and black civil war soldiers were the first to serve in the military during peacetime. Each year, it celebrates a different group of veterans.
Retired Master Sgt. Artis Bulliner also attended the museum’s Sunday event. He served in the Lewis Army for 23 years, but retired 20 years ago after injuring his back during a classified mission with the Department of Homeland Security, he said.
He calls Houston home, but Sunday was his first time at the museum’s Veterans Day celebration — he’s usually at Arlington National Cemetery.
He came Sunday to honor his fellow soldiers, he said.
As part of Sunday’s event, the museum honored Lt. James Reese Europe, a composer and musician who joined the military during World War I.
Anthony Branker, composer and professor at Rutgers University, gave a presentation about him, tearing up as he dedicating the day to his uncle who served three tours during the Vietnam War.
Europe led the Harlem Hell Fighters, an infantry band that toured France during the war.
“Europe and his military band traveled over 2,000 miles in France and the Hell Fighters made their first recordings in France,” he said. If the French hadn’t made those recordings, no one today would know what the Hell Fighters sounded like.
Europe also was an activist, Branker said, and worked to make sure African American musicians were able to perform and be heard.
“He was a crusader for the rights of African American musicians and felt compelled to present what he referred to as the musical proficiency of the African race,” Branker said.